These SunGold Flower Power Fruit Pizzas are a playful and nutritious after-school snack made with whole wheat English muffins, a slightly sweet mixture of goat cheese and honey, and a flower-shaped medley of colorful fruits including Zespri SunGold kiwifruit, Mandarin oranges, blueberries, and raspberries.

These healthy snack pizzas look Pinterest worthy, but I’m happy to report that they’re easy to assemble. And your kids can certainly help. Just set out toasted English muffin halves, a mixture of goat cheese and honey (or light cream cheese if you prefer), and a variety of fresh fruit. Let your kids take over from there to create their own flower-studded pizzas.

SunGolds have a tropical, sweet flavor and a smooth skin that’s edible. In my family, our favorite way to eat them is to slice in half and scoop the fruit with a spoon. Our second way is to slice and use as a topping on English muffin pizzas, and our third favorite way is to add these sweet little gems to smoothies and smoothie bowls.

The nutritional benefits of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit is impressive. Each serving (2 kiwifruit) has more vitamin C than an orange, as much potassium as a banana, 2 grams of filling fiber, and antioxidants.

Does the mood in your household get more serious when the kids head back to school? And do you feel frazzled and overwhelmed at times? This recipe is designed to add a ray of sunshine to your family's day. It's super easy to make and its fresh, naturally sweet flavor is guaranteed to lift anyone's spirits. These pizzas are like a ray of sunshine.

Ingredients

One whole wheat English muffin

3 ounces goat cheese or cream cheese

1 teaspoon honey

1 SunGold Zespri kiwifruit

4 Mandarine orange or clementine sections

5 blueberries

5 raspberries

Extra fruit for topping or snacking

Instructions

Slice the English muffin in half. Place in a toaster oven and toast lightly.

Slice the SunGold into 4 to 6 slices. Set 2 of the slices aside and then cut all other slices in half.

Place the goat cheese and honey in a small bowl and mix together until combined.

To make the flowers, place the kiwifruit, orange sections, and berries in three separate bowls. Spread the goat cheese mixture evenly over each half.

Arrange the fruit in a flower shape on top of each English muffin half. Use the round kiwifruit slices as the center of each flower and the kiwifruit halves as petals.

To enter to win (U.S. only, please), leave a comment here on the blog with your best recipe or tip for packing a healthy and joyful school lunch. I’ll pick the book winner at random. Giveaway ends September 1st at noon ET. Good luck!

Most of the sugar-and-spice roasted nut recipes that we’ve seen online call for half a cup to a cup of sugar, so the healthy attributes of the nuts (good fats, fiber, antioxidants) get sabotaged. My “candied” walnut makeover has a hint of sweetness from just 1/4 cup brown sugar and lots of flavor from cinnamon, allspice, and ginger.

It’s impossible to eat just one of these nuts. They’re “more-ish,” because you always want more. Nuts are not low in calories, which is why I recommend a 1/4-cup portion, but they’re packed with good nutrition, so I encourage you to add a handful of nuts to your daily diet all year long.

From holiday parties to a hostess gift, my better-for-you spiced walnuts are easy to make and impossible to resist.

This recipe has it all: sweet, spicy, slightly salty, and oh-so crunchy. It's also versatile, because you can easily swap the walnuts for pecans or almonds. As for baking up these beauties, keep a watchful eye, because the nuts can go from golden to burned in a matter of a minute or two!

Ingredients

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 pound walnut halves (about 4 cups)

¼ cup brown sugar

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly oil or coat a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. For easier clean up, line the baking sheet with aluminum foil and then coat with cooking spray.

Whisk together the egg white and water in a large bowl until well blended. Add the walnuts and toss to coat evenly with the egg white mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, allspice, and ginger, and sprinkle over the nuts. Toss until well coated.

Spread the nuts in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet, and bake until the glaze is crisp and golden brown, 15 minutes. Toss and cook 3 to 5 more minutes until even more golden, as desired. Remove from the oven, toss, and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

This week, kids across the country are heading back to school, even though the sun is shining bright and summer is still in full swing. I realize that for a lot of you, this new back-to-school reality means taking a break from Pokemon GO, dusting off backpacks and lunchboxes, and revving up your repertoire of healthy family recipes.

To keep your kids well fed and well fueled throughout the day, I’m here to the rescue with this recipe for Carrot Sunshine Smoothie Bowls. I created quite a few smoothie bowl recipes over the past few months, and I was determined to come up with at least one recipe with beans. It may sound a bit strange, but the beans work really well in the recipe, adding thickness, and of course, fiber.

Blend up this flavorful bowl for breakfast, as an after-school snack … or even dessert.

This recipe is one of the 10 smoothie bowls offered in Color. Cook. Eat! Smoothie Bowls.

If you’re a fan of adult (or kid) coloring, check out the adorable mandala coloring page for this recipe. For kids who shy away from carrots, this coloring page could be the antidote.

It's time to rise and shine with this adorable, nutrient-packed smoothie bowl! The ingredients may surprise you, especially the beans and carrot juice, but they work beautifully in this beautiful bowl! By adding pineapple, banana, and honey, I blend natural sweetness into every sunny serving.

Cool off and refuel in the afternoon with these all-natural, no sugar added Super Strawberry Yogurt Pops. They’re perfect for the last lazy days of summer … or as a refreshing after-school snack for kids who’ve already gone back to school.

I’m all about easy when I’m busy … and I’m all about packing in as much nutrition as possible when it comes to my kids. This three-ingredient recipe for frozen strawberry yogurt pops hits the spot for health, ease, and kid appeal.

This recipe is flexible: You can use frozen strawberries if you don’t have fresh on hand; use peaches instead of berries; or add a handful of blueberries to the blender mix. As for the yogurt, I call for strawberry, but vanilla would work well too! My pops are easy to make, and each one provides 12% of a toddler’s daily requirement for calcium.

Place the strawberries, yogurt, and juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into four 3- or 4-ounce ice pop molds and freeze until firm, about 4 hours. (If there’s a little left over in the blender, drink it like you would a smoothie!)

To remove the pops from the molds, run under warm water for about 20 seconds to loosen.

Notes

If you don’t have ice pop molds, divide the liquid between four paper cups. Cover each cup with aluminum foil, insert one craft stick through the center of each piece of foil, and freeze.

As kids across the country head back to school, parents are scrambling to get back into a healthy mealtime and snack routine. To make that daunting task a tad bit easier, try this easy and nutritious Peanut Butter Yogurt Banana Dip.

Look at all those fun, kid-friendly dippers!

Say it ain’t so! Summer is coming to an end, and it’s back-to-school time … already!

If your kids are anything like mine, they’re famished when they get home from school. Be at the ready with a nutrient-rich snack like this one. And remember, on average, kids consume about 25% of their daily calories from snacks, so make those between-meal nibbles as nutritious as you can 🙂

Don’t let after-school sports get in the way of good nutrition. Whip up my dip, pack it up with your child’s favorite dippers, and then hit the road running …

Looking for a healthy new snack idea the whole family will love? Give my yummy dip a try. Made with calcium-rich yogurt, peanut butter, and banana, it takes just minutes to assemble. I suggest you serve this creamy dip with nutritious dippers including sliced apples (or peaches), celery sticks, Graham crackers, and whole grain pretzels.

Ingredients

½ ripe banana

¾ cup vanilla low-fat yogurt

3 tablespoons peanut butter

⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Peel the banana, place on a cutting board, and mash with the back of a fork until smooth. Place in a medium-size bowl with the yogurt, peanut butter, and cinnamon and stir until well combined.

Transfer to a small bowl and serve with sliced fruit, celery, Graham crackers, and whole grain pretzels.

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I first created this recipe for the summer issue of the Live Well Digest, a WIC publication created by Brush Arts. I hope you like it; please weigh in with your family’s favorite snacks.

I don’t believe in “sneaking” vegetables into kids’ foods, but I do believe that “weaving” health-enhancing ingredients into everyday recipes is a good thing. For this naturally-sweet smoothie, I tossed half a roasted beet into the blender for an extra burst of fiber, vitamin C, and nitrates, a plant compound that boosts running performance.

Beets are gorgeous, and when you roast them, they develop a pleasant, sweet flavor. They're versatile---you can add roasted beets to salads, eat them as a side dish, and even "weave" them into meatballs---and they add a deep red color to our family-pleasing smoothies.

Ingredients

2 cups frozen strawberries

1 cup 100% mixed berry juice

½ cup strawberry 2% Greek yogurt

½ of a small, roasted beet (3 ounces)

½ banana, preferably frozen

2 teaspoons chia seeds

1 teaspoon honey

Instructions

Place the strawberries, juice, yogurt, beet, banana, chia seeds, and honey in a blender, and blend until well combined.

Pour into individual glasses and serve with a straw.

Notes

Other nutrients in this smoothie include antioxidants as well as 110% vitamin C, 10% calcium, and 10% iron.

These family-pleasing Tuna and Smashed Avocado Snack Cakes will hold you over between meals with fiber, protein, healthy fats, and fantastic flavors. This recipe is made with a smashed avocado and plain Greek yogurt instead of the usual mayonnaise, and it’s gluten free.

By posting this recipe, I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Bumble Bee Seafoods and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time. Contest organized by The Recipe Redux.

I created this recipe as a snack for kids and families, but you could certainly double the portion and serve it for lunch. There are three big reasons why I love this recipe so much:

1. It’s easy to make.

2. It’s flexible: You can serve it on mini or large-size rice cakes, between two slices of whole grain bread, over a salad, or inside a hollowed-out tomato.

3. Its star ingredient is tuna, which is rich in protein, a good source of B vitamins, and provides a simple way to get more seafood into your family’s diet.

Most people don’t eat enough seafood despite its health benefits and despite the June 2014 draft seafood advice from the FDA and EPA encouraging everyone to eat at least 8 to 12 ounces (2 to 3 servings) of seafood per week.

How much seafood does your family eat each week? If you think your kids won't eat it, then give my slightly sweet and oh-so-crunchy tuna snack cakes a try. My recipe is filled with veggies and made with a smashed avocado and some plain Greek yogurt instead of the usual mayo.

These healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are light and luscious and have more fiber than the usual donut shop options. Made with white whole wheat flour, a third cup sugar, olive oil, and poppy seeds, this muffin makeover is perfect for breakfast or a lunch box or afternoon snack.

The idea for this recipe came to me last weekend during the annual Daffodil Festival on Nantucket where the color yellow popped up everywhere — from the daffodil-decorated vintage cars in the Nantucket Town to Sconset parade to the tailgate picnic. Read this post and you’ll see what I mean!

If you love lemon, this is the recipe for you. I added the zest of one lemon to the recipe, though you could definitely double that amount. Top with your favorite all-natural jam to add a bit more sweetness.

Ingredients

1¾ cups white whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, beaten

⅓ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

¾ cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used whole milk yogurt)

½ cup 1% low-fat milk

Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

Juice of 1 lemon (about 4 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well combined. Whisk in the yogurt, oil, milk, zest, juice, and vanilla until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake about 18 minutes, or until the muffins are light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and cool an additional 5 minutes before serving.

Here’s what Nantucket looked like last weekend when 100 vintage cars lined up for the parade. My husband entered his 1974 MGB (lower left) into the parade, and luckily it only died once along the route!

Tim and Simon soak in the sun and the fun. We were pretty envious of all the creative daffodil-themed car decorations, especially this Blues Brothers antique police car …

How funny is this? The owners of this car were even playing the theme music from the movie from that crazy loudspeaker on top.

I want this truck 🙂

If you’re jealous of my headband, post a comment and I’ll tell you how I made it!!!

Yippee! Tim and his friend, Kevin, made it to the Sconset picnic.

We still consider ourselves Daffy newbies since this was our first picnic. But just you wait till next year. We’re dreaming up some fun themes (Disco Daffy perhaps?) and hope to have something as impressive as this ….

Deviled eggs get a healthy makeover with these oh-so-cute Chirp, Chirp Deviled Eggs.

These adorable deviled eggs will delight your kids on Easter or any time of the year. Even though they look fancy, they’re incredibly easy to make. No worries: You will NOT experience a Pinterest fail when you make them.

I love eggs … yolks included. In fact, if you toss the yolks away because you’re fearful of dietary cholesterol, read on, because I’m gonna bust that myth wide open.

If your kids get excited about going on Easter Egg hunts, they’ll definitely be eager to try these adorable baby chick deviled eggs. To boost your child’s interest even more, involve them in the decorating.

Cut the eggs in half, lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks and place in a bowl. Mash the egg yolks with the back of a fork. Add the mayonnaise, bell pepper (or carrot), mustard, salt, and pepper, and stir to combine.

Place the egg yolk mixture in a zip-top plastic sandwich bag. Seal the bag and snip half an inch off one bottom corner. Squeeze an equal amount of the mixture into each egg white half.

To decorate the chicks, cut small triangles out of several strips of bell pepper (or cooked carrot) and use them for the beaks; use the sliced black olives for the eyes, and the dill or parsley, as desired, for feathers.

Notes

If you don’t have olives, use cooked green peas or halved black beans for the eyes.

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Eggs are packed with great nutrition and they’re versatile. But over the years they’ve gotten a bad rap. The following info should help to set the health record straight on one of our favorite foods:

Eggs Are Heart Healthy

Even though one large egg contains 212 milligrams of cholesterol (over half of the daily recommended limit of 300 milligrams), studies show that eating cholesterol doesn’t necessarily raise levels of blood cholesterol. In fact, according to new recommendations for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, cholesterol is no longer considered to be a nutrient of concern. Interestingly, research shows that eating one egg a day can actually reduce heart disease risk by increasing your so-called good HDL cholesterol. When shopping for eggs at the market, we typically buy omega-3 eggs. They’re more expensive, but we think it’s worth it since each egg provides 200 to 300 milligrams of heart-healthy omega-3s. A recent study found that subjects who ate five omega-3 eggs a week reduced their triglyceride levels by 16 to 18% over a three week period compared to people who ate regular eggs. (Triglycerides are also bad for your ticker!) Bottom line: It’s AOK to eat an egg a day, though the Mayo Clinic suggests that if you have diabetes or existing heart disease, it’s best to limit your egg intake to three a week.

Eggs Can Boost Your Brain Health

Most people don’t get enough choline in their diets. Why should you care? Well, this B vitamin is important for pregnant women because it plays a critical role in fetal brain development, and for adults it’s a nutrient that fuels memory and lifelong learning. Egg yolks are packed with choline; each has 125 milligrams, which is a quarter of the recommended daily amount. (Beef and chicken livers are the top two food sources followed by eggs and then wheat germ.) Bottom line: Don’t toss those egg yolks!

Eggs are Good for Your Waistline

There’s nothing more frustrating than eating a meal, say breakfast, and then 90 minutes later feeling your stomach start to growl. Eating eggs keeps you feeling fuller for longer (AKA satiety), which is yet another reason why I love ’em so much. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, compared a group of participants who ate either an egg breakfast or a carb-rich bagel breakfast. They found that egg eaters felt less hungry as lunchtime approached and ended up eating fewer calories throughout the remainder of the day. Bottom line: To feel satisfied, incorporate eggs into your everyday diet by scrambling one for breakfast, snacking on a deviled egg in the afternoon, or making egg salad for lunch!

Eggs are Good for Your Eyesight

Egg yolks (here we go again with the yolks!) are rich in the antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, which reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, leading causes of vision loss in people over the age of 50. Although eyesight naturally declines with age, a healthy diet rich in eggs (as well as other lutein and zeaxanthin-containing foods like spinach, kale, and other dark green leafy veggies), can help to keep your vision sharp. Bottom line: Make a Kale or Spinach Omelet and enjoy!

Serve up these easy Nachos for Two topped with guacamole, cilantro, and black beans as an after-school nosh for the kids or a tailgate party snack while you’re watching football (but just be sure to double or triple the recipe).

My favorite food EVER is avocado, and just this week, a new study revealed that eating an avocado a day as part of a healthy diet along with other healthy fats can lower your bad LDL cholesterol. I was hooked well before this latest study, but it’s always nice to know that a luscious, delicious fruit like avocado is so darn healthy. I digress…

My lunch began with an avocado, which I quickly turned into guacamole by mashing with chopped fresh cilantro, lime juice, kosher salt, and ground cumin.

Hmmmm? What to do with that guacamole? With the Patriot’s game just days away, “nachos!” was the logical answer.

The great thing about this nacho recipe is that anything goes. You can add any type of bean---pinto, cannellini, black---any type of shredded cheese, a mild or spicy salsa, plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, and diced avocado or mashed! If you're a cilantro hater (I'm in the "love" camp), just leave it off.